In the past, in my Film days, I used polarizers to get the same effect, one circular Polarizer (the one that was closer to the camera) and stacked above it another linear Polarizer. According to the angle between them you get more or less light. First I got a Linear Polarizer, but when getting a better camera, I was told that exposure (though-the-lenses-metering) and autofocus gets fooled, therefore I got a Circular Polarizer.

Having these two animals, I decided to play with them and the results on film were cute.

Then I moved to a Cokin system, and added few more polarizers to the collection (Blue-Red, Blue-Geen, Red-Green), that you could stack them with the Circular Polarizer and get strange results..

Disclaimer: On that time, I was processing the negatives, not printing.. just sent the 35mm cartridge to the corner's lab and get the 6x4 printed photos.

Lightcraft seem to do a vari ND for a fraction of the price of Singh_Ray and by the majority of reviews seems to be as good. Just be careful that you get a genuine one. They have a store on ebay but there seem to be a lot of copies that really are no good.

I have also read they are not recommended for quality photography, more for video. This may be disputed. The advantages of these over just putting 2 CPL filters together is they have markings to give a guide to the steps. They also work by stepping down a ring to stop vignetting ie 77mm attached to 82mm outer filter.

I have been thinking about this for a while but ended up buying a 3 stop high quality ND from B+W, can combine this with a CPL filter to increase darkness if required.

Can get up to 8 stops though with vari ND, I was just concerned about mixed reviews!

I was thinking about getting one from Lightcraft also, but was put off by a very so so review. It would appear that the idea is great, but for various reasons fail to live up to their billing. I can't remember all the bad points, but I think poor image quality was the main one. Pitty, as the idea of only having to carry one filter is excellent. If you realy want Tao, I'll try and dig out the review I saw, and give you a breakdown of their main pro's and cons?

I have seen the Lightcraft and allot of so-so reviews to really bad reviews as well. It seems you get what you pay for with these filters.

@rbid - It must be something a bit different than the two polarizers since they sell versions that are polarized. It is a similar idea for sure.

I'm willing to pay the almost $400 to get one if they work well with f1.4-f2.8s. I like the idea of it rather than stacking filters and getting tons of vignetting. I'm more interested in hearing what people think of them who use have used them extensively.

Reviews are always - we get a free one for 1 week and have to write something on it at the last minute since they are pushing deadlines, before they have to send it back.

This sucks! I thought for the life of me someone would have tried one here. Maybe I'll just get one and test it myself. Got crammed again with shooing in bright sun (beyond shutter speed) then quickly to shade shooting at f2. Being able to dial the ND down would speed things up then have to take off the filter.

Well, finally someone who has one! I'm a semi-pro who uses the Singh Ray for its higher end ability to take long exposures mostly of ocean, streams, etc where I'm looking for a surreal look. also like that I need only carry the one filter to get a wide range of ND capability. Yes, it is expensive at over $400 but I love it and have never looked back! I have not tried it taking pictures of the sun but may do so now just to see how it behaves. Always nervouse about looking at or near sun due to danger to eyes. Hope this helps in any way.
Gordon Ripley Rindge, NH

Thanks, Gordon. Do you have any experience with whether it actually stays neutral when cutting out a lot of light (meaning whether there's a color cast to the passed light)? I'd love to see any samples you'd be willing to show.

I have not noticed any color cast. I can send you a photo taken at Mono Lake in Lee Vining, CA last June if you like. Send me your e-mail to *Link Removed* and I'll send you a .jpg of the picture.
Gordon Ripley
Rindge, NH

Hold on... I went back and checked the .NEF file. There is a "not natural" cast but I feel that it is attributable to the WB being set ot Auto. If I set it to daylight it looks much more reasonable. Other settings I used in raw include:
Temp 5050
Tint +20
Fill light +11
Blacks +11
Brightness +44
Contrast +32
Clarity +46
Exposure +1.55
The exposure time was 1.45 seconds.
I do not know how to show the picture here so that is why I asked to send it to you.
Gordon Ripley

Well I found a few other companies that make these, I admit I am with everyone else sitting on the fence going...is it worth it???? (yes if the quality is there but no if I would be better off trying to win the lotto than get a good shot with one)

Thanks for the info guys! I think the money is worth it if I can shoot wide open in bright sunlight. Consider a couple of good ND filters can cost $200 it may be worth a little more to have the ability to vary the strength.

I have seen many china "off companies" making them but quality is questionable.

Thanks, Gordon. I sent you an email. You might want to take your email off the forum post to avoid spam (or at least disguise the address a bit). If you send me the picture and you don't mind, I could post it here for you so others could see.

Digital Photo magazine here in the UK have just published results of their test on the "Lightcraft Workshop fader ND MK2" (April 2011 edition). In essence they like the idea, but gave it a 3 out of 5 star rating because, "The effect is variable from 2-9 stops, though there's a catch- it's strength is limited by focal length and diminishes the wider you shoot. With the filter attached to a 17-55mm lens on an APS-C format DSLR, it gave us a maximum strength of 5 stops at 17mm. Beyond this a noticeable dark cross appears, due to the polarising effect. As you zoom in the effect can be applied more strongly before the cross appears, and at 55mm we recorded 8 stops. The full 9 stop effect is achieved at around 100mm". They went on to say that vignetting and colour cast were not a problem, but setting the appropriate strength of filtration was difficult because the markings on the edge of the filter, did not accurately indicate the effect that would be achieved, and that the only way to be sure was to check the image on screen. This version seems cheaper than the ones you guys have mentioned at £99 for a 77mm.

AHIKERAHIKER said:
I have not noticed any color cast. I can send you a photo taken at Mono Lake in Lee Vining, CA last June if you like. Send me your e-mail to (removed bu user)and I'll send you a .jpg of the picture.
Gordon Ripley
Rindge, NH

I want to buy a Cokin P Series graduated ND filter from Singh Ray so I would like to know people's experiences with them on this forum. Obviously they are very costly so I would I am thinking I would like to buy one Galen Rowell and one Daryl Benson version. I am concerned about the harsh contrast of dark to light on some of the hard stopped ones. However, the soft edged ones might not be enough. What I am leaning towards is a 3 stop soft step Galen Rowell for $99 and then a Daryl Benson reverse 3 stop hard step for $120. Most pros swear by a two stop 0.6 but it seems very slight especially the soft step ones for the Galen Rowell versions. The Daryl Benson reverse filters are available in 1-4 Stops.

Early next year I will purchase a 77mm Vari ND filter from Singh Ray (I'm firm on this one),but have to wait because of the higher cost. As I get closer to finishing up my schooling I will have the funds available to get back into my true love again^^

Thanks, I am certain someone will be able to clear this right for me very fast particularly msmoto, Skintbrit, AdamZ or Witty Nickname, and many others I am sure. I really appreciate it :)

And, now that we are here, I have just ordered a solar filter from Oceanside Photo & Telescope who have a lot of filters for astrophotography and the one I have coming is for shooting the sun. But, they are very helpful and may be able to give advice on other ND filters.

@kanuck - sorry no help from me on this subject. I had an incident with Cokin filters in the past and was so unhappy with this kind of filters that stopped using them. prefer a little bit different approach: bracketing + PS job, though I know it's not a perfect solution but it works for me so far. As for the Singh Ray, I only can tell You that they manufacture good quality products.

OMT: have You though of getting a regular screw-in type ND and do some PP afterwards?

I use the 2 stop soft edge ND grad from Singh Ray, and it does work well. I have found more and more though that I find a need for a 3 stop soft edge, so that is on my list of future purchases. I have the 3 stop hard edge, and I find that I don't use that one all that much, because it is much harder to work with the transition, especially on wide angle. I mostly shoot landscapes that don't typically have a flat transition line (like a sunset on water), so the soft edge ones work better for me.

I would say though that if you are thinking about getting the soft ND grads, you should just get them. Yes, they are about 100 bucks a piece, but I use them all the time, and are very much worth it. I typically just handhold them in front of the lens, but they are really just wide enough, so you have to watch getting your fingers in the shot. If I were starting over, I might go for the larger Lee filters, which are easily wide enough to handhold.

I never got a ND filter although I mean to at some point. I was just looking at some in a camera store here last friday, but they wanted $200 for an off brand which seemed a bit steep. My friend has a variable ND filter that he is going to let me use when we go camping at the end of September...luckily the same size to fit my 17-55 and his 16-35. I am not sure if I would use one enough to justify the cost...that being said I already have the picture in my mind that I want to try out with it :)